Ohio State football | Buckeyes gear up for Big Ten play

Monday

Ohio State returned from its only idle Saturday this fall knowing that its real grind is about to start.

With the Big Ten as strong and deep as it's been in years, the next nine weeks figure to be more of a minefield than the cakewalk the Buckeyes have made it under Urban Meyer.

Second-ranked Ohio State (3-0) has lost just one regular-season Big Ten game with Meyer as coach " last year's heartbreaker against Michigan State. With Wisconsin, Nebraska, Michigan State and Michigan on the schedule, the Buckeyes face four teams ranked in the top 17 in the country.

'Big Ten, that's the real deal,' linebacker Chris Worley said. 'There are a lot of good teams in the Big Ten right now. It's one of the strongest, if not the (strongest), conference. We've got a lot of good teams to play. It's going to be a long journey.'

That journey will likely begin with an easy step. Rutgers comes to Columbus on Saturday for homecoming. Ohio State is a 38-point favorite, 10 points more than it was favored against Bowling Green and Tulsa.

Former Ohio State co-defensive coordinator Chris Ash is the Scarlet Knights' first-year coach, and he inherited a dysfunctional program.

Not much is expected of Rutgers this year, and not much has been delivered. The Scarlet Knights (2-2) did play Iowa tough last week, losing 14-7. But any positive vibes derived from that were negated by the loss of top offensive playmaker Janarion Grant (ankle) and defensive end Quanzell Lambert (knee) for the season.

'Two really good players,' Meyer said.

Meyer would rather have the Buckeyes' off week come later in the season, but quarterback J.T. Barrett liked its timing.

'If anything, I like how it's going to be straight games so we can try to get into a rhythm and stay in a rhythm going into Big Ten play,' Barrett said. 'I kind of like that it was earlier. I wouldn't want the bye week to be later because it might mess up the rhythm we had.'

The Buckeyes practiced last week, concentrating mostly on shoring up fundamentals. As well as they've played, coaches and players see much room for improvement.

The players had three days off over the weekend, and many went home. Meyer doesn't want any compliments players have received to sink in too deeply and take away the edge they've carefully sought.

'That's my concern,' he said. 'With all the added publicity, press conferences and everybody being told how good they are, I really worry about that. So just get ready to practice and we'll be fine.'

Running backs coach Tony Alford chuckled when asked about the hype now surrounding the Buckeyes.

'We don't give them hype in this building,' he said. 'They're fine. Part of the culture we've built here is when you come into this building, you put your hard hat on and grind it out. That's the culture of the locker room.'

brabinowitz@dispatch.com

@brdispatch

Goodbye, off week. Hello, Big Ten season.

Ohio State returned from its only idle Saturday this fall knowing that its real grind is about to start.

With the Big Ten as strong and deep as it's been in years, the next nine weeks figure to be more of a minefield than the cakewalk the Buckeyes have made it under Urban Meyer.

Second-ranked Ohio State (3-0) has lost just one regular-season Big Ten game with Meyer as coach " last year's heartbreaker against Michigan State. With Wisconsin, Nebraska, Michigan State and Michigan on the schedule, the Buckeyes face four teams ranked in the top 17 in the country.

'Big Ten, that's the real deal,' linebacker Chris Worley said. 'There are a lot of good teams in the Big Ten right now. It's one of the strongest, if not the (strongest), conference. We've got a lot of good teams to play. It's going to be a long journey.'

That journey will likely begin with an easy step. Rutgers comes to Columbus on Saturday for homecoming. Ohio State is a 38-point favorite, 10 points more than it was favored against Bowling Green and Tulsa.

Former Ohio State co-defensive coordinator Chris Ash is the Scarlet Knights' first-year coach, and he inherited a dysfunctional program.

Not much is expected of Rutgers this year, and not much has been delivered. The Scarlet Knights (2-2) did play Iowa tough last week, losing 14-7. But any positive vibes derived from that were negated by the loss of top offensive playmaker Janarion Grant (ankle) and defensive end Quanzell Lambert (knee) for the season.

'Two really good players,' Meyer said.

Meyer would rather have the Buckeyes' off week come later in the season, but quarterback J.T. Barrett liked its timing.

'If anything, I like how it's going to be straight games so we can try to get into a rhythm and stay in a rhythm going into Big Ten play,' Barrett said. 'I kind of like that it was earlier. I wouldn't want the bye week to be later because it might mess up the rhythm we had.'

The Buckeyes practiced last week, concentrating mostly on shoring up fundamentals. As well as they've played, coaches and players see much room for improvement.

The players had three days off over the weekend, and many went home. Meyer doesn't want any compliments players have received to sink in too deeply and take away the edge they've carefully sought.

'That's my concern,' he said. 'With all the added publicity, press conferences and everybody being told how good they are, I really worry about that. So just get ready to practice and we'll be fine.'

Running backs coach Tony Alford chuckled when asked about the hype now surrounding the Buckeyes.

'We don't give them hype in this building,' he said. 'They're fine. Part of the culture we've built here is when you come into this building, you put your hard hat on and grind it out. That's the culture of the locker room.'

brabinowitz@dispatch.com

@brdispatch

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